1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid regulating apparatus and, more particularly, to such a fluid regulating apparatus which is particularly well suited to the discriminate control of fluid release through multiple outlets to discrete destinations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advent of a recognition of the need for conservation of natural resources, have come industries devoted to achieving such conservation without a significant loss of benefit from the natural resources so conserved. In the case of the conservation of water resources, industries have evolved whose objectives are to ensure significant reductions in water consumption while incurring little or no loss in benefit as a result. Drip and low volume irrigation is increasingly more extensively employed, particularly in the arid regions of the world, affording the capability for application of significantly reduced volumes of water, but at the precise locations desired. In contrast, predecessor practices included flood irrigation where much of the water employed is wasted by absorption into the earth without consumption by plant life.
Low volume and drip irrigation systems possess a multiplicity of very low volume fluid outlets, or emitters, adapted individually to be positioned adjacent to the individual plants to be watered. However, such systems are subject to a multitude of operational difficulties which must themselves be overcome. For example, in the case of low volume or drip irrigation, very small bore emitters, tubing and the like must be employed which are susceptible to becoming obstructed by fluid borne substances during their operational lives. The multiplicity of such very small bore elements makes the frequent cleaning of such elements very expensive, and in many instances, entirely impractical.
Another problem incident to the operation of such low volume and drip irrigation systems is the fact that most commonly the individual water needs of the individual plants to be irrigated vary both relative to each other and over time so that the low volume or drip irrigation system must possess the capability of individual adjustment of the fluid outlets for control of the volume released therefrom. Conventionally, this is achieved by the replacement of the individual major components, such as emitters, of the system which is both expensive and labor intensive. Each of the major components is of comparatively great expense and when the numbers of such components require a replacement is, as is often the case, a significant percentage of the entire system, the aggregate cost is substantial. Since such major components are not centralized, but rather distributed throughout the entire system, the labor required in replacing those major components is considerably beyond that which would be desirable.
Another chronic problem experienced in conventional low volume and drip irrigation systems is a result of the inherent variability of fluid pressures received from the source of fluid under pressure. Over time, both municipal and private water systems are subject to considerable variations in fluid pressure. For example, in a 24 hour period, fluid pressure in a municipal system may vary over a rather wide range due to a variety of conditions including the variation in demand placed on the system throughout the period. While certain prior art efforts have been directed at providing low volume and drip irrigation systems with a capability of adjusting to fluid pressure to ensure that a relatively constant volume of fluid release is achievable regardless of the actual fluid pressure at any one time, such prior art efforts have not been entirely satisfactory and have not been operable in complement to other operational considerations.
Still another result of the variability in fluid pressures is the reversal of the direction of fluid flow within the system which may draw toxic or otherwise harmful substances into the system or may draw particulate matter into the system leading to the occlusion of fluid orifices within the system. This phenomenon is known as "back flow". While back flow preventers are known in a variety of fluid systems of large bore, the prevention of such back flow in low volume or drip irrigation systems has received very little attention.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fluid regulating apparatus which has particular utility in low volume and drip irrigation systems; which is operable to distribute fluid within low volume and drip irrigation systems to multiple distribution points; which possesses the capability for independently adjusting the distribution volumes to the multiple distribution points, both relative to each other and over time; which reduces significantly the cost of adjusting such irrigation systems both as to the cost of the individual elements thereof as well as to the cost of the manual labor required to achieve such adjustment; and which possesses the capability of adjusting to variations in fluid pressure within the system and thereby avoiding the negative consequences associated therewith.